We had two terrific late afternoon Cheetah sightings during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari at the end of June. Our guests were most appreciative of these two beautiful models!
Our first cheetah sighting of the trip was courtesy of this male patrolling and marking his territory. We could follow along for quite some distance and our guide positioned the vehicle expertly for great shots, even in the fast-fading light.
Cheetah
Our second cheetah sighting of the trip was of another male using a fallen Marula tree as a vantage point from which to check for prey or danger – we never figured out which it was as he disappeared from view in a thorny thicket shortly after jumping off.
Cheetah
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
The Manyeleti Game Reserve has a large population of buffaloes and we encountered several enormous herds of these bulky bovines while exploring the reserve on our recent Manyeleti Magic photographic safari. Being able to venture so close to animals this intimidating is always a thrilling affair.
One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead
Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead
Old Buffalo bull
Buffalo cow with interesting headdress
Buffalo calf
Alert Buffalo bull
Buffalo cow
Young Buffalo bull
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
Late afternoon on the third day of our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photo-safari we were driving through a most beautiful spot of towering trees lining a stream and waterhole, with the most glorious golden light illuminating the scene. It was a little slice of paradise filled with various animals and birds and it is hard to describe just how blessed we felt to be there in the moment.
Giraffes congregating at the water to drink
Giraffe checking out the water before drinking
Nile Crocodile basking on a sandbank
Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole
Hippopotamus cow and calf
Hippopotamus calf
Our guide Beckson was the first to notice an enormous Southern African Rock Python slithering across the two-track road we were on. It was a magnificent specimen and must’ve only very recently shed its old skin as it was now resplendent with shiny new scales amplified by the golden light of the afternoon sun. With pythons, especially this size, being a rare sighting we all got off the vehicle and our guests had a chance to photograph the enormous snake from all angles before it moved underneath an old leadwood stump and disappeared from view. A most memorable encounter; the kind of which we’ve learned is pretty much par for the course in the magical place that is Manyeleti!
Shiny new scales on a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
Just look at the size of this Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari!
We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!
I am fresh back from our Manyeleti Magic Photo-Safari & Workshop hosted in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography out of Buffelshoek Tented Camp, and what a trip it was – without a question one of the best I have ever had, and with 40+ years of visiting South Africa’s wild places that takes some doing! Of course I will be telling you all about it in good time, but here’s a little taste of what you can look forward to.
Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear
Spotted Hyena
Bateleur pair
Lilac-breasted Roller
Cheetah
Young male Lion
Magpie Shrike
One buffalo from a herd several hundred strong
Pearl-spotted Owlet
The head of a Southern African Rock Python encountered on our Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari
Spotted Hyena
African Wild Dogs in playful mood before starting their hunt
A Buffalo standing on a dam wall gives an unusual perspective
White Rhino
Leopard
Hippo eyeing us from the waterhole
Cheetah
Lions after dark
One of the males from the Kambula Breakaway pride
Two of the Kambula Lions at Manyeleti
Buffalo taking a little longer to chew this prickly grasshead
Join us for a look back at the wonderfully wild South African destinations we visited during 2023. May 2024 be a blessed year for you and your family, memorable for all the best reasons.
Jakhalsfontein Guest Farm
Our camping setup at Bontle in Marakele National Park, March 2023
Chalet #1 in Lilydale Rest Camp
Hut #107 in Pretoriuskop Rest Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)
Hut #46 in Lower Sabie Rest Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)
Tent #10 in Tamboti Tented Camp, Kruger National Park (June 2023)
Guest House, Shingwedzi Research Camp, Kruger National Park, June 2023
Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Twanana Research Camp, Kruger National Park, September 2023
House #32, Kudu Private Nature Reserve, October 2023
The beach at the estuary of Lake Saint Lucia
Cape Vidal at low tide
Western Shores section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Rest Hut #3, Mantuma Rest Camp, uMkhuze Game Reserve, November 2023
Surprisingly for a reserve located in one of South Africa’s tourism hotspots, the Lowveld, the Manyeleti Nature Reserve is an unexploited and unpolished gem of a destination. I’ve just recently returned from my first visit to this special place, accompanied by friend and colleague Hannes Rossouw.
The Manyeleti Nature Reserve was established in the 1960’s by the government of the Apartheid homeland Gazankulu, for exclusive use by non-white visitors. Covering an area of 227km² and sharing unfenced borders with the Kruger National Park and the Timbavati and Sabi Sand Private Game Reserves, administration of the reserve passed to the Mpumalanga Provincial Government following the end of Apartheid in 1994.
Sunrise over Manyeleti
Six Pod Mahogany trees, growing in two clusters of three each, and the only ones of their kind in the reserve, is a curious feature of Manyeleti.
Sunrise over Manyeleti
Manyeleti means “Place of stars” – looking up at the night sky will confirm this to be a very apt name – and is covered mainly by open savanna-type vegetation communities, with dense riverine forest along the course of the usually dry Nwaswitsontso River. Several large dams inside the reserve provide a year-round water supply and are focal points for the reserve’s wildlife and, consequently, human visitors.
A big male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young lion in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Lioness with a very full belly
A very alert Lioness
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Cheetah in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Cheetah after being chased up a tree by Wild Dogs in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Giraffe
Elephant calf
White Rhino bull in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Hippos in a dam in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Hippo in a dam in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Hippo in a dam in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Waterbuck
Waterbuck calf
Blue Wildebeest
Nyala Bull
Young Nyala bull at Ndzhaka Camp in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Kudu cows being very curious about a troop of baboons
Steenbok ewe
Steenbok ewe
Red-billed Oxpeckers on a nyala bull
Arrow-marked Babbler
Black Flycatcher
Black-backed Puffback
African Hoopoe
Young Saddle-billed Storks
Grey Heron
Brown Snake Eagle
Lilac-breasted Roller
During our recent visit to the reserve, Hannes and I were hosted for one night at each of Ndzhaka and Buffelshoek Camps, and I am proud to say that DeWetsWild is now a contracted reservation agent for both. In co-operation with Hannes Rossouw Photography we will also be holding regular photographic safaris and workshops there – we’re already taking bookings for the first of these scheduled for June 2024. The camps are rustic and off the grid, and with each accommodating no more than 10 guests in 5 comfortable en-suite safari-style tents, with all meals and two daily game drives included, are perfect for an authentic bush experience. Ndzhaka is set among the enormous trees on the banks of the Nwaswitsontso almost in the centre of Manyeleti, its grounds frequented by nyala, bushbuck and waterbuck. Buffelshoek on the other hand is located on a remote open plain towards the reserve’s south-eastern corner, with herds of game and predators moving around and sometimes even through the camp to reach the local waterhole.
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Ndzhaka Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
Buffelshoek Camp, Manyeleti Nature Reserve, September 2023
A morning coffee stop in the bush at Manyeleti, compliments of Buffelshoek Camp
On the perimeter of Ndzhaka Camp a small trough of water is like a magnet to visiting antelope. I set up my little trailcam there to see what might come visiting while we’re out on our game drive or asleep in the tent.
In upcoming posts on DeWetsWild I will be sharing some of the incredible sightings we enjoyed during our visits to Ndzhaka and Buffelshoek in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve.
I have just returned from a visit to the Lowveld and in particular the Kruger National Park and Manyeleti Game Reserve with Hannes Rossouw Photography. The following photographs are just a little appetiser of what you can look forward to in the next few posts on DeWetsWild.
Leopard up a tree near Phalaborwa Gate
Sharpe Grysbok near Mopani
Elephant at Mooiplaas Waterhole
Elephant herd walking away from Mooiplaas Waterhole
Plains zebras drinking from Grootvlei Dam
Elephant bull drinking from Grootvlei Dam
Impressive tusker near Tihongonyeni
Elephant feeding on mopane leaves near Tihongonyeni
Squacco Heron at Pioneer Dam
African Scops Owl
Buffalo Calf
Buffalo Bull
Leopard in a tree on the bank of the Tsendze River south of Mopani
African Civet
Blue Wildebeest at Mooiplaas
Young Nyala bull at Ndzhaka Camp in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young leopard in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Young lion in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
A big male Lion in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Playful Wild Dog pups in Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Wild Dog in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
Cheetah after being chased up a tree by Wild Dogs in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve
DeWetsWild 